In hot desert climates, many people look for ways to find water-saving methods with their lawns and sporting fields. One seemingly wise remedy that is by using artificial turf. On its face, this seems like a good solution. However, there are several major reasons why natural turf is still king.

Chief among these reasons is the temperatures artificial turf can reach in hot weather. In warmer months, artificial turf can reach 200º – no, that’s not a typo. That temperature is so much higher than the 122º that’s considered safe for use by professional athletes, much less your family and pets. This temperature of turf is such that you couldn’t put your bare feet or hands on it for longer than a few seconds before it would burn you. This means that during summer months, artificial turf simply is not suitable for play during daytime hours. So one might ask, are its water-saving benefits worth the cost of installation if it is unusable during the daytime for several months out of the year. One way to cool down the artificial turf, users say, is to hose it down and it is suggested to do so every thirty minutes in order for it to stay cool enough to safely play on. However, this practice when used on turf installed specifically to conserve water, defeats its own purpose (while creating humidity in the attempt to cool the artificial turf down).

In addition, using artificial turf has other consequences, some unintended. One is a phenomenon called the urban heat island effect. This means that the artificial turf, similar to concrete and asphalt, actually radiates heat back into the night air, causing warmer nights for the areas that have it and causing nearby plants and grass to need extra water.

At West Coast Turf, we are experts in natural grass, specifically Arizona sod (and you Arizonans know better than anyone how hot the summer months can be!) and have provided the natural turf for many professional fields, including MLB, NFL, professional training fields, college football and baseball fields, racetracks, Major League Soccer, and more. Contact us to find out more about why we’re the best in our field and what we can do for you!